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(No ModeL) VAN RENSSLBA'R G. WHITE. P BRANDING MACHINE.

No. 289,480. Pate'n-t'ed Dem-4,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VAN RENssLEAE e. WHITE, or ROCHESTER, NEW YoEK, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM BARTHOLOMAY, OF SAME PLACE.

BRANDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,480, dated December 4, 1883,

Application filed August 12, 1882. (No model.)

other round packages for liquids, but capable also of being employed in marking other objects; andit consists in providing a suitable self-adjusting stove or heating-chamber with a brand, and in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus, all as hereinafter more fully pointed out and specified.

My invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation. Fig. 2 is aplan view. Fig.3 is an elevation of the stove and brand. Fig. 4represents the joint at the side of the stove.

In the drawings hereto annexed, A represents the bed or frame of my improved branding-machine; B B, the movable stove,scarrying the brands or dies O Q"; D, the bc rrel or kegor other object to bebranded; E, the support for the keg; F, the handle or lever by which the stoves are moved to and from the object by means of the pinion G, racks H H, levers I I, and yokes J J.

The stoves B B consist of suitable heating chambers, provided with smoke-pipes a a, closed openings 12 b for the introduction of fuel, and having the dies or branding-irons C O attached to their sides. Each stove is mounted on a base, K K. which is provided on its upper side with a suitable grate of a diameter corresponding to that of the stove -body, and which also serves as an ash-pit, being provided with a door, (Z d. The stoves are arranged so as to travel to and from each other, as represented by the full and dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, by means of the legs 0 c c 0, provided with rollers e e e 6', running in the grooves L L in the bed or frame A.

In order to effect the reciprocating motion of the stoves carrying the brands, I arrange the cross-shaft f to rock in suitable bearings on the bed, provided with a handle or lever,

caused to recede from each other.

F, and with a pinion, G, which meshes with the racks H and H, Fig. 1. The outer ends of these racks are connected with the lower ends of the leversI I, which turn on or with suitable shafts, g 9, supported in the frames N N, attached to the bed of the machine. The upper ends of the levers I I are pivoted at 'v o to the ends of the yokes J J, which encircle the stove, and are attached thereto on each side. By raising the lever F, it will thus be perceived that the pinion G will be partially rotated, which will cause the racks H H to slide horizontally, and this motion will be transmitted to the stoves, so as to cause them to approach each other, by means of the levers I I and the yokes J J. On depressing the lever F, on the contrary, the stoves will be The ends of the yokes J J are provided with a series of holes, through any of which the bolts '0 o, forming the connection with the levers I I, may be passed, for the purpose of adjusting the relative positions of the stoves. Any other suitable means of adjustment may, however, be employed. The upper rack, H, is kept in mesh with the pinion G by an arm or bracket, h, Fig. 1, reaching upward from the bed and bearing against the upper side of the rack.

The keg, barrel, box, or other object to be branded is sustained between the stoves on the rack or support E, which is affixed in any convenient way, to an upright post or frame rising from the bed'A;

Any suitable means may be employed for adjusting the height ofthe rack or support relatively to the brands. A convenient mode of accomplishing this result is represented in Fig. 1; and it consists of a frame, 0, rising upward from the bed on each side of the racks and pinion, provided with a socket, t, through which works the threaded rod 1?, carrying the rack E at its upper end, and provided with the nuts Z Z, by which its position in the socket can be adjusted. A set-screw may be employed in the socket t, or other suitable means adapted to effect the vertical adjustment, if preferred.

For branding barrels, kegs for beer or other is supported by the plates.

liquids, or other circular objects, the support E consists of a rack formed of curved slats, or Otherwise shaped so as to conform to the outline of the object on which it is designed to operate.

, In using the machine for branding barrels or kegs, it may be convenient to provide suitable ways or tracks at the proper height relatively to the support, on which the kegs are rolled to the machine and removed therefrom. The stoves are provided on each side, on a line as near as possible opposite the centers of the brands, and at right angles therewith, with the trunnions m m m m, by which they are adj ustably supported on the uprights or standards R B, one of which is fastened to the base of the stove, on each side thereof. The trunnions m m fit loosely into notches in the upper ends of the standards R R, as represented in Fig. 4. On the outside of each standard is pivoted a segmental plate, 8, against the curved upper edge of which the lower side of the trunnion rests, so that the weight of the stove The plates are arranged so as to be capable of swinging ashort distance about the screws or pivots t, as represented in Fig. 4. The ends of the curved portions of the yokes J J are pivoted to the outer ends of the trunnions by means of bolts and washers a a or other suitable device. It will be perceived that by this arrangement the stoves are supported so as to be free to oscillate slightly about a horizontal axis passing through the trunnions, and also free to oscillate about its vertical axis, the plates 8 s on the standards R R swinging to accommodate this adjustment, (see Fig. 4,) and the yoke J being also arranged to slide on the bolt or pin 1;, by which it is connected with the lever I. In this way the stove is allowed to adjust itself to any irregularity in the surface of the object to be branded, and the opposite surfaces of such object will be properly branded, even if they are not parallel with each other. The application of the brands against opposite sides or ends of the objects at the same time also insures equal pressure on each surface, and consequently equal depth of the impression of the brands.

The self-adjusting feature of the brands enables me to rapidly mark barrels, kegs, or other objects on both ends with great perfection. To permit of the self-adjusting motion of the stove, a space is left between its lower end and the upper surface of the base. The grate, which is represented by the dotted lines w w, is supported in any suitable way on the upper plate of the base K, being made of an area proportionate to the dimensions of the stove.

I do not intend to confine myself to a stove in which the brand is heated by the combustion of solid fuel; but the stove may be arranged to use gaseous or liquid fuel in any preferred way. Thus my stove and brand may be arranged to be heated by any suitable burner constructed to consume gas, which is introduced into the stove through suitable pipes, either with or without a supply of air under pressure; and my improved stove and brand may also be heated by any kind of liquid fuel by the use of any suitable injector or combustion apparatus operated by a current of air impelled by a fan or other pressure-producing device. In either of the above cases the gas or air may be introduced through flexible pipes, to permit the to-and-fro adjustment of the stove.

It is obvious that my improved stove and brand may be used in connection with a support for the object to be branded, so arranged and constructed as to allow the object to be rotated, so as to be branded first on one end and then on the other; and this construction may be adopted whether the stove itself be made self-adjusting, so as to present the brand parallel to the surface to be marked, or whether the object be sustained on a selfadjusting support arranged to produce the same result, and whether the support be made to rotate/ about its vertical axis, or the arrangement be such that the object is turned around/independently of the support to present it fopposite ends to the brand.

Another modification of my invention consists in dispensing with the mechanism by which the stoves are made movable on thebed of the machine, and in so arranging the support for the object to be branded that it may be moved to and fro between the brands O 0, thereby applying first one side or end against one brand and the other side or end against the other. made movable lengthwise between the brands, and any suitable mechanical means may be adopted for this purpose.

It is obvious, also, that the mechanism for moving the stoves may be altered without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus cranks and pitmen may be substituted for the racks and pinion, the levers and yokes may be dispensed with, and various devices may be employed for rendering the stoves self-adjusting.

It is obvious, also, that the self-adjusting heated brand may also be used upon the top instead of the side of a suitable heating-chamber, the arrangement being such that the 0bj ect to be branded may be applied thereon by means of a vertically-moving support or otherwise, as may be preferred.

I claim- 1. The combination, with the self-adj usting stove B, of the brand 0, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with each other, of the self-adjusting heated brands C 0, arranged to receive a reciprocating motion to and from In this case the support would be 7 each other, so as to be applied to the opposite provided with brands C O, of the lever F and ends or surfaces of the article to be marked, mechanism, substantially as described, for 10 substantially as described. transmitting the motion of the lever to the 3. The combination of the stove B, pro stoves, substantially as described. I 5 vided with brand 0 and trunnions m m, base VAN RENSSLEAR G. WHITE.

K, and standards R R, substantially as de- Witnesses: scribed. GEO. B. SEL'DEN, 1f- 4. The combination, with the stoves B B, H. G. PHILLIPS. 

